This Room Is a Junkyard! Children's Comprehension of Metaphorical Language.

Karadsheh, Randa

Children's understanding of metaphorical language at different ages is explored. Comprehension of sensory, functional, and psychological metaphors was measured with a sentence completion task on kindergarten, second grade, fourth grade, and college subjects. Children's understanding of the metaphors was ordered from best to worst: sensory, functional, and psychological, whereas for adults there were no differences. All groups understood sensory metaphors equally well, but age differences occurred for functional and psychological metaphors. Children frequently offered sensory interpretations of functional and psychological metaphors. The data support the view that general metaphor comprehension is present early. However, because psychological and functional levels of understanding emerge later in development, understanding these kinds of metaphors may be dependant on specific domain knowledge. (Author/JL)